Publishing News Roundup Series: Is Big Tech a Threat to Writers?
by Maureen Crisp • September 5, 2018 • Follow
Published in News • No comments
There has always been the age of how much does technology hurt or help writing?
From the time of the creation of the printing press, this argument has existed. The creation of that brought about the death of hand illustrated literature. On the other hand it opened up reading to every class on a more global scale. Now the argument is that modern technology is hurting print books. However, much of technology has helped to increase production of literature as a whole. With computers we can relay information faster. With the internet we can connect faster as well as research more easily. Without technology, self publishing could not even exist. But what happens when technology pushes too far? For example, machines that can generate stories and ideas could pose a threat to writers. Is that something writers need to think about? Can big tech pose a threat to writers after all?
Angst, Perfection and Envy – The Writer Triple Threat
Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- Barbara Ann Spengler- Arizona Winter Sky
Is the sky falling?
This week there seems to be all the angsty opinion pieces about the death of reading because of Social Media or ….. (fill in latest fad.) Publishing Perspectives has an open letter from the Authors Guild about Big Tech Content being a threat to writers.
The Guardian has an opinion piece asking if YA films are dead…
I can’t help thinking that this is Back to School angst in the Northern Hemsiphere.
Nate Hoffelder looks at the weeks biggest news in publishing… Walmart and Kobo’s new ebook venture. Everybody waiting to see how it goes. What is interesting is about five years ago I was following tech companies that had Ebook gift cards on shelf displays…it didn’t get much traction. Kobo and Walmart seem to be bringing that technology back. Will it work this time?
Derek Murphy has a stellar guest post on Anne R Allen’s blog on 10 mistakes I made as an Indie. It’s a must read. Derek wraps up common problems offers solutions and resources. It is a long post chock full of great advice.
Joanna Penn has a great little video on writer priorities. She is examining her writer business and making changes. Do you need to to be asking yourself hard questions about writer goals?
Is perfection an art or author sabotage? Judith Briles examined this question on The Book Designer blog this week. I so needed to read this. Sometimes I need someone to say… Let it go out into the world…
Katie Weiland is always a must go to website for her great posts on writing craft as well as her in depth articles on character. She has some great writng craft books too. I was interested in this weeks post on Writer Envy. Everybody needs to read this post. It’s a good explanation on why we suffer it and what we can do about it.
I always like to lead into the Writing Craft and Marketing Link section with something craft related. Now Novel has a huge post on 30 character flaws. This is a good run down on how to deepen your characters.
In The Craft Section,
How to shut out writers block so you can fast draft– Lisa Hall Wilson
Two great posts from Janice Hardy – How to slash your word count while editing– and What to do in act two – Bookmark
Writing blockbuster plots-mastering scene-Martha Alderson
Balancing multiple viewpoints- Fictorians- Bookmark
Using dysfunctional behaviour for character wounds– Angela Ackerman- Bookmark
And Angela also has this cool list of great tools- check out weavesilk… addictive!
In The Marketing Section,
How to get blurbs- Tim Grahl
Change a book title without losing reviews– Alli blog- Bookmark
Platform building and related terrors- David Gaughran- Bookmark
Optimizing book review process– Joanna Penn- Bookmark
When 60 is the new 50 – pages to submit to agents- Agent Janet Reid
How to build a following with uniqueness– Travis Jonker-Dan Blank- Bookmark
To Finish,
Dave Chesson has an interesting podcast and suite of Author products. Here he has collected all the book title genenerator tools in one handy list. It doesn’t matter what genre you write there is a title generator for you.
Maureen
@craicer
About Maureen Crisp
Maureen Crisp has been writing her weekly publishing roundups for over seven years. She is a traditionally published children's author as well as indie-published. She lives in New Zealand and is heading the team organising the 4th National Conference of Children's Writers and Illustrators. She is currently trying her hand at writing a children’s book series if she can drag herself away from forever tweaking her Mars novel or obsessing over space.